Saint Aubin Single Cask 2003

Saint Aubin makes this single cask from fresh sugar cane juice on Mauritius, an agricole-style rum that earns the cane juice description without the protected French-island label. This 2003 was matured fifteen years in ex-bourbon and bottled at a gentle 45%.

The long maturation gives it real depth and a wood-forward character. The nose offers ripe exotic fruit, papaya, mango and nectarine alongside citrus, vanilla and caramel, with a soft sweet-floral lift. The palate turns woody and sweet with vanilla and cinnamon, the cane juice origin still recognisable underneath, before a woody, spicy finish with a resinous, sappy note. Some drinkers find an almost whisky-like maltiness to it. Mature and oak-rich rather than fresh and grassy, this is a relaxed, contemplative single cask that rewards slow sipping and a closer look at Mauritian cane juice rum.